


This Has to Stop

by TheBigLoserQueen



Series: Wolf/Bear AU [12]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Forgiveness, Genderbending, Het, Human, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrids, Interspecies, Interspecies Relationship(s), Light Angst, One-Sided Attraction, Other, Unrequited Love, animal/human hybrids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 08:03:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14786615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBigLoserQueen/pseuds/TheBigLoserQueen
Summary: Prowl can't handle the wolf-men's affections and snaps.





	This Has to Stop

For the most part, Prowl enjoyed living in her village. It was a small one in the middle of the woods, where the next town was about a mile and a half over. Everyone was very nice there and she had a peaceful life living as a nun at the small church within the town. The priest, Optimus, was a kind man and so were the other four nuns, who she considered to be her friends. Ever since joining the church at the age of thirteen, she had devoted herself to Primus and wanted to spread his will and do good for others.

Which was why she was in this situation now.

It had been a long time ago, when she had just turned fifteen. While out with the other sisters, she found a group of five young wolf-boys, who had looked so small and weak and malnourished, abandoned by their mother and left to die. The oldest, Scrapper, had been only twelve years old, while the middle three Bonecrusher, Mixmaster, and Long Haul had been ten, and the youngest one, Scavenger, had just barely turned nine. It was almost too heartbreaking for her to see them all curled up next to each other behind some rocks, trying to keep out of her sights and hoping she would go away, afraid of what a human might do to them.

Despite the stigma with wolf-people, she couldn't just leave them to die. Optimus had agreed and though the village had been hesitant at first, she was allowed to bring them into the town and nurse them until they were strong enough to survive on their own. The five of them had been eternally grateful to her and vowed to protect her and the village for as long as they lived.

That wouldn't have been a problem if they hadn't gotten so... affectionate with her.

She didn't know what happened, but somehow, ten years later, these wolf-men had grown from simply seeing her as a savior to seeing her as a... potential mate, attempting to win her over with flowers and pretty words and promises of devotion and love and all sorts of nonsense.

Every. Single. Day.

To make it worse, the entire village knew. Not only that, but they just laughed at it and encouraged her to humor the wolf-men, to let them have their fun. Mainly because they liked the protection they got from the five wolf-men, but it was really starting to irritate her. She couldn't go a day without one or more of them trying to woo her.

"Please, Mistress, let's go for a walk."

Much like now.

Prowl was currently outside with some of the married women of the town, helping out with the gardens. Much to her annoyance, Mixmaster was there, following her around and trying to convince her to go walk with him. And the women she was with just laughed at her little plight.

"Mistress-"

"No."

"Please, Mistress, I promise I won't keep you for too long."

"I'm gardening."

"Then afterwards?"

"Go on a walk with your brothers, Mixmaster."

He frowned. "But I want to go with you, Mistress."

Mistress. Why on Earth did they call her that? When they were younger, they had addressed her as "Sister Prowl." It was only until three years ago when they decided to start calling her "Mistress" instead. That was also when they started attempting to woo her, much to her dismay. Were they seriously unaware that she had already taken her vow of chastity and devoted her entire being to Primus?

"Mixmaster, I am busy at the moment and I don't know when I'll be done. Besides, I have much to do after this. I cannot take a walk with you."

The poor wolf-man looked heartbroken. It did hurt a bit to see them so distraught, but they had to learn that it was pointless. She could not and would not return their affections. She had sworn her love and body to Primus and she could not break her vows to be with another.

"Then... could I help, Mistress?"

Of course. If they couldn't get what they want, they would always try to work it out into something else. Anything just to get her affection and gratitude.

"Mixmaster... thank you, but we are doing fine by ourselves."

"Are... Are you sure you wouldn't want-?"

"Mixmaster," Prowl held back her voice as she finally stood up to face the wolf-man. "Please. Your offer is appreciated, but you are not helping us out by distracting us."

"Oh, Sister Prowl, it's all right," one of the married women said. "He's not bothering us that much."

"Right," another woman added. "We enjoy the company a lot. And it's nice having a young strapping man offer to help out with the garden."

"Unlike our husbands."

Prowl had to resist the urge to groan as she heard the women giggle behind her which was only causing Mixmaster to turn a little red as his hope starting to return for a chance to take a walk with her.

"... We do appreciate the offer, but we don't require any help for now. Why don't you go back home and help out your brothers?"

"But Mistress," Oh Lord, he was whining again. "You look like you're going to need more water soon... We can fetch some more together."

She bit back a frown. He had a point... She would need more water soon from the well. And since the women were pushing for it, she didn't have much of a choice. She had no other option than to give up and let the wolf-man do as he clearly wanted.

"... Very well."

Mixmaster's tail wagged excitedly as she made her way towards the well, the other following after her. She ignored the giggles from the women behind her, who were clearly enjoying her little plight. Most likely because they didn't understand how frustrating this actually was. If they were in her shoes, they would probably be more forgiving. It wasn't like how it was with their husband or lovers. They just gave a few wooing words when attempting to court them, maybe some gifts every once in a while.

These wolf-men were completely different. Maybe it was because they didn't really understand human boundaries or customs (despite her trying to teach them), but they were so... overbearing. They liked to sniff her and tell her how wonderful and sweet she smelled. Sometimes, one of them would come into her room at night and act like a guard dog, Scrapper, Long Haul, and Mixmaster always by the door or window. Scavenger and Bonecrusher tended to be the one who slept on the floor by her bed.

And that was just during the night. During the day, they were always trying to do things for her. Help her with chores, walk her from place to place, help her relax, try to give her shoulder rubs - they just would not stop. And when they weren't trying to help her, they were trying to be affectionate. Hugs, cuddles, gift giving - one time, Bonecrusher had even kissed her cheek, which earned him a hard slap to the face.

It was exhausting sometimes. No matter how many times she told them that she would not return their affections, they just refused to give up. It annoyed her to know that these wolf-men apparently didn't know how to take no for an answer, but for now, there was nothing she could do.

As they reached the well, Mixmaster had gone ahead of her and was already attempting to fetch the water. She said nothing and just stood there, waiting for him to pull the bucket back up. But then she heard rustling in the bushes, making her look behind her.

The largest wolf-man of the group smiled at her. "Hello, Mistress."

She regarded him with a nod. "I thought you were with your brothers."

Bonecrusher shrugged. "I wanted to see you, Mistress."

Prowl had to roll her eyes at that and turned away. Since when did they ever come across her without the reason being they just wanted to see her?

"It's nice to see you too, Bonecrusher. If I may ask, what exactly are you doing in the village?"

"I was just walking around making sure everyone was safe when I saw you and my brother at the well."

"Hmm." She knew he was lying. The wolf-men did patrol around the village to protect it, but they did tend to stray into the village, mostly the church, to try and see her. Mixmaster had just happened to find her first today. Bonecrusher had probably caught their scent and followed them.

"So... what are you doing, Mistress?"

"... I was helping out some of the women with the gardening and I came to get some more water."

"So... do you need any help?"

Lord help her. "Your brother is helping me out already. You don't have to worry."

"So... is there anything else you need help with?"

The urge to groan was getting stronger and stronger, but Prowl was an advent follower of Primus. She needed to be kind and gentle and in control-

"I got the water, Mistress!"

Mixmaster ran back to her side, water leaking over bucket's edge as he held it tight to his chest making a mess of himself.

"...Thank you, Mixmaster. Now I'm sure you have much to do, so why don't you give me the water and-"

"We don't have a lot to do!"

"Our brothers are more than enough to protect the town," Bonecrusher added in. "We can spare some time to help you out!"

"I-I appre-"

"Do you think this will be enough water for the garden, Mistress?"

"Mixmaster, I-"

"Of course that's not a lot, brother. You'll need more water than that!" The bigger wolf-man headed over to the well and looked around for a spare bucket. "She'll need plenty more than that!"

"Wa-"

But it was too late. The two wolf-men were already getting more buckets left around the well for anyone who need one and filling them up with water.

Prowl finally let out a groan as they finally returned to her with six buckets of water held between them, more than what they needed.

"Is this enough, Mistress?" They both asked in unison.

"...Yes." And having given up, she proceeded to go back to where the other women were with two happy wolf-men behind her.

* * *

Prowl finally collapsed into a chair in relief. After having those two for so long, she had sent them off to give the extra water they had collected to the villagers who needed some. It got Mixmaster and Bonecrusher off her back long enough for her to help finish tending to the garden work.

She was so tired and drained... And she didn't even do that much. At least not physically anyway. After she had helped with the gardening, she had gone back to the church to pray for a little bit before helping out a fellow nun take care of some children. And, sure enough, Long Haul was off the side and watching her from a small distance, his eyes never leaving her.

Those wolf-men were so... exhausting. She was just always so mentally drained after dealing with them. Like overgrown children who always wanted her attention.

Why her? Why did they want her? She was a nun; she had already devoted herself to Primus and had told them countless time that they couldn't have what they wanted from her. Yet, they just continued to persist...

A knock on her bedroom door interrupted her thoughts, causing her to sit up straight. "Yes?" she called out.

She would have been lying if she said that she wasn't relieved to see it was Optimus and not one of the wolf-men.

"Good evening, Prowl," he greeted, stepping into the room.

"Optimus. Is there something you need?"

The priest shook his head. "No, no. We were worried about you when you excused yourself from supper early."

The woman should have figured that was the case. She was usually the last one there to help clear the table and wash the dishes. But she had honestly just been too tired to even try. Having to deal with five suitors who couldn't take a hint could do that to you, she supposed.

"My apologies."

"Oh, no, no - no need to apologize," he said, holding up his hands. "I could see you were tired."

That and he was aware of her situation. While he was aware the rest of the village thought nothing of the wolf-men's wooing attempts, he knew better. Yes, he was older, and yes, he was a priest, but that didn't make him dense to personal feelings. And wolf-men were different from humans, he knew this well. Prowl was the savior of those five wolf-men, so to speak, but he was aware of the rather deep feelings they held for the nun. He worried about her chastity, if he were being honest, but he knew Prowl was a stubborn one and quite strong.

Still, five wolf-men could wear anyone down, especially when she was attempting to be gentle and kind with them, as she believed a follower of Primus should have been. Then again, he personally believed it was because she had a soft spot for the five, even if she would never admit such a thing.

He smiled gently at her. "The women were chattering about today regarding your helpers."

Prowl's face darkened a bit. Would she ever catch a break? With those five, never. "... I see."

"They have a greater interest in church now, I've noticed."

She wanted to correct him and tell him no; the only interest they had was coming into the chapel and staring at her the entire time whenever anything was going on ever. But she could tell the older man was attempting to lighten the mood of the situation, even though it wasn't doing much.

"... I suppose so."

"Do you dislike them?"

She let out a heavy huff and shook her head. Rising to her feet, she rubbed her hands together in an attempt to collect her thoughts. No, she didn't hate them... They were just so overbearing sometimes. She didn't know how to handle it as she simply wasn't used to it. They should have given up a long time ago, but no. They kept at it, kept trying to get her to be their mate, even though she couldn't. Despite her irritation though, they were still good wolf-men. She could never hate them.

"I dislike their persistence," she finally admitted, looking up at the other. "But I do not dislike them."

"I see. They are a rather energetic bunch."

She nodded in agreement, unable to suppress a heavy sigh.

Optimus looked out the window before nodding to himself. "I'm afraid I must depart soon, Prowl. Do you mind conducting the evening's mass?"

She shook her head. She had almost forgotten that Optimus was needed in the next town for a few days. Apparently, the lady needed to speak with him about something. From what she knew, the woman was converting... Optimus was definitely the perfect person to give someone spiritual guidance, considering how understanding and patient he was.

"All right. I will return in a few days."

"May Primus be with you on your journey."

He nodded and left the room, leaving her to herself for a few moments. Well, hopefully the next few days would be peaceful ones... Of course, with those five wolf-men still out and about, she was never really sure anymore.

* * *

Prowl wasn't surprised to see the wolf-men there at the evening mass. Though, luckily for her, they sat in the way back and did not once bother her. At least they were courteous enough to leave her alone when she was doing something serious or something that could not have interruptions. They had never interfered with her work and for that, she was grateful.

But once the villagers had returned back to their homes for the evening and the other sisters had gone to bed, leaving her to tidy up inside the chapel, the five of them once again attempted to help her with everything.

"Mistress, we can do that."

"You've done enough today."

"You look tired, Mistress."

"Sit down over here."

"I can do that, Mistress, don't worry about doing anything else."

"You want this to be cleaned, right?"

"Mistress, leave it to us."

Just listening to them attempting to force her to relax was giving her a headache. She was not a child; she could handle things herself. The only reason why she was tired was because of them to begin with. If they actually stopped overwhelming her, she wouldn't be so mentally exhausted. Still, at the very least, at least she didn't have to do anything and was allowed to simply sit down and watch them work.

Since there was five of them, it didn't take very long to clean up the chapel. Scrapper had finished first and approached her just as she turned to look at him. The other brothers were still finishing up with everything else, so he would have a few minutes with her to himself.

"How are you feeling, Mistress?"

She reached up to rub her eyes. "Tired. And please stop calling me that."

Much to her annoyance, he ignored the last part of what she had said. "Is there anything else we can do to help?"

Oh Primus, spare her of their overbearing presence. She just wanted to curl up into her bed after a personal prayer and get the rest she needed for her growing headache. "No," she said firmly, shaking her head. She slowly rose to her feet, Scrapper taking a small step back to give her space. "Thank you for your help, though. It was... quite... generous."

"Y-You're welcome," he stammered, blushing a bit.

"Well then... Good-"

"Mistress?"

Prowl used every inch of her will power to not just groan when she heard Long Haul's voice. She turned around to see that the four other wolf-men had also finished with their chores. Great; now they were all entirely focused on her. This was like a nightmare that would never end, wasn't it?

"Are you going to bed now, Mistress?" Scavenger asked softly.

"... Yes."

"Would you like us to escort you back to your room?" Long Haul said, stepping closer to her.

Taking a deep breath, Prowl calmed herself before she spoke. "... No. No, thank you. I'm perfectly capable of going... alone."

"Are you sure, Mistress?"

"We don't mind escorting you to your-"

"I said I can go by myself!"

Her voice started the wolf-men as it echoed through the chapel. She was lucky it was restricted to only the chapel or else the other nuns would hear and come check it out. Prowl didn't need any more problems tonight. Especially when she had her hands full with these wolf-men.

"...B-But... M-Mistress-"

"I've told you before! Please stop calling me that!"

Prowl was trying to control her voice, but she was just so exhausted, so tired. She wanted them to go away. She wanted them gone so she could finally get her thoughts together. Lord, she had been thinking about them so much with them around it was making her head hurt.

Scrapper bit his lip, knowing that they had to try to appeal to her somehow. "We just want to make sure you're all right, Mistress."

That was just too much for her to handle. Their constant attention and their repetitive attempts to woo her... Prowl clutched her head before she stood up, startling the wolf-men.

"M-Mis-?"

"I'm going to bed," she announced. "I will get myself ready and then go to bed. You will not follow me, you will not offer to help me get ready, and you will not come near me tonight."

"But-"

"You will not come near me or my bedroom!" She let out as she pushed through Long Haul and Bonecrusher in the direction of her chambers.

And sure enough, the wolf-men started to congregate after her with concerned expressions on their faces.

"No!" She turned back on them with her finger pointed at them. "No! Go home, go out on patrol... I don't care, just... just go anywhere but where I will be sleeping! Okay?"

The wolf-men started to nervously look at each other, Scavenger even opening his mouth to ask something-

"Okay?!"

"Y-Yes, Mistress!"

Despite the agreement, that last word made her anger boil over as Prowl swirled herself around and stormed into the back of the chapel to the sleeping quarters.

That left the wolf-men brothers to stand there in the clean chapel confused and heartbroken.

* * *

It had been nearly five days since she had lost her temper with the five wolf-men. Not only had they not come near her, but they didn't even come by the village. No one had seen them since that night and at first, Prowl didn't care or even mind. At least for the first two days.

It had been rather nice to not have to wake up with one of them in her room. Or trying to coddle her. Or all of them trying to woo her and do basically everything for her that she could have done on her own. She was not a child or their "mistress" as they liked to call her. She was a nun; she was meant to help others, not the other way around.

But by day three, she would admit that she was worried. Not once had they appeared in the village. Not even the children, who really liked playing with the five of them, had seen them. They were worried that they had left or that something might have happened to them. While Prowl tried to help assure the little ones that the wolf-men were fine, she was starting to grow concerned.

Day four came back and still, they didn't show up. The poor nun was starting to realize it was because of what she had said that the brothers had not shown their faces around town. If she hadn't have lost her temper like she had, they would probably still be here, annoying her and bothering her and asking to help and...

What had she done? They weren't doing anything... wrong, so to speak. They just wanted... to help her. To protect her. To take care of her. That was they had always told her. Yes, she could have done without the wooing attempts, the overbearing nature of their desire to help, them calling her "Mistress," but... they never meant any harm. They just wanted to help her, just as she had helped them all those years ago.

And when the fifth day came and they had yet to show their faces, Prowl felt even worse than before. It was her fault they were gone... And for all she knew, she had hurt them so badly that they would never come back. That wasn't her intention. She... She didn't hate them. She never hated them. They had just been too much for her and she lost her temper and yelled like that...

Far too worried about them, she decided to head out shortly after the evening mass to look for them. She had to at least make sure that they were all right. If she had at least saw one of them, she could ask if they were okay. They had never disappeared like this before, not once in all the time she had known them.

She had spoken too harshly. Yes, they had been overbearing and had been trying way too hard to please her, but they had only meant to help. She hadn’t actually wanted them to leave. She didn’t want them to just disappear on her. She could have spoken to them a different way. Intelligent as they were, they were still wolf-men. They didn’t realize they were pushing her too far and she would have just talked to them. She shouldn’t have yelled at them.

She headed down the path towards their den. She had only been there a few times, when they were younger or sometimes sick, though that rarely happened. She hoped they would be there. She prayed that hadn’t left. She had only wanted them to give her a moment’s peace, not to just pack up and leave…

This wasn’t what she wanted. She didn’t want them gone. They were… precious to her. She cared about them deeply. She didn’t love them like they did her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t care or dislike them. She had only been tired of being so overwhelmed by their affections, she had nothing against them. She didn’t want them gone forever.

She came to their den. Much to her dismay, it was abnormally quiet. Usually, at least one of them was still awake and doing some patrolling at this time, at least one more round before they went to bed. But she didn’t see anyone. She didn’t even hear faint snoring. Had they really left? Was she too late?

She bit her bottom lip, bringing her hands to her chest. Primus, they really were gone. She had chased them away. She had snapped when all they wanted to do was help. Primus, she had to find them. She had to apologize, she had to tell them to come back home and that she was sorry and she didn’t mean to hurt them-!

“Mistress?”

The soft voice startled her. She spun around, eyes wide when she saw Scrapper standing there, his own eyes wide and locked on her. His fur looked a little damp, telling her he had just come back from the river. He had been… taking a bath. Where his brothers probably were. Maybe one or two of them were patrolling. They were still here. They hadn’t left.

“Mistress-!” He came over to her, face full of concern. “Mistress, you shouldn’t be out alone-! The forest is dangerous, especially at night!”

But just as he stepped in front of her, his hands out to grab her shoulders, she smacked him. Not hard, just a light slap to the cheek. It was enough to stun him, his hands frozen in the hair. Prowl had never hit him or any of his brothers before. Not even they were young and acting out like a bunch of brats… And Bonecrusher and Mixmaster had done plenty of crap to earn a slap from Prowl, but she never gave one.

But she did it now. A slap to the face and he didn’t know what to say. But before he could even think of how to respond to that, the nun came forward, wrapped her arms tightly around him as she buried her face into his chest.

“M-Mis-?”

Her arms just tightened around his waist as relief washed over her. Scrapper was here. Which meant his brothers were here. Which meant that they hadn’t left. They were still around, they didn’t abandon the village, she hadn’t chased them off. They had been here, probably hiding from her, because they didn’t want to leave her.

“Mistress…” He could feel her arms shaking, her breathing uneven. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her, not sure what else to do. He rubbed her back while his other hand went to her hair. “Please, Mistress… Please don’t cry-”

“I’m not,” she said, her voice cracked though firm.

He paused to look down at her. She had quickly pulled away from his embrace, but he kept his hands on her shoulders to look at her better. Her shoulders still trembled lightly, she had this relieved look on her face… But she was definitely glaring at him.

“Mistress-?”

“You disappeared.”

He looked confused. “We… You told us to stay-”

“I asked you not to follow me that night,” she said. “You five had been swarming me for weeks now, treating me like some sort of delicate princess, and would not give me a moment’s peace.”

“We just thought-”

“You disappeared,” she repeated, clearly much more upset than before. “You disappeared without a trace, you never said anything. You just… You all completely vanished! Not even the other villagers knew where you had gone! Do you not know how worried I was?!”

His eyes widened, especially when her hand came up to hit his chest. “We were still rounding on the village, we just thought you needed-!”

“I did need space!” She hit him again. “I know you five love me, I do! But you were suffocating me and I only needed time to myself. I didn’t ask you to completely disappear without a trace!”

Another slap was enough for him to pull her into another hug. He could feel her push and hit at his chest, but he refused to let go. Damn it, why were they always screwing things up? They just wanted to show her how much they loved her… They had pushed too far with their constant affections and need to please. And then they completely misread what she meant by leaving her alone.

Rustling in the bushes got his attention. He didn’t need to turn to know it was Long Haul and Bonecrusher… Mixmaster and Scavenger were still patrolling through the village, though they were probably coming back too. Prowl’s voice tended to carry through the quiet woods when she was upset.

“What the-? Mi-Mistress?” Long Haul was suddenly next to him, his hand stretched out to try and comfort her too. But a quick glare from him got his younger brother to stop, who still looked confused as to what was going on.

Though Bonecrusher, unlike his brother, didn’t know when to just shut up and let him handle this. “What the hell did you do?!”

“Bone-”

“No, it was your idea to stay away from her! You told us we should leave her alone, to give her time to cool off and then come back! But now she’s here and she’s upset, so what the hell did you do?!”

Prowl closed her eyes tightly when the arguing raised in volume. About how it was all Scrapper’s idea, how Long Haul and Mixmaster were the only ones that supported the idea, how Bonecrusher didn’t want to go along with this plan… And then there was blame on him about how he was overbearing and on Scavenger for being so clingy and how all of them made her crazy because they didn’t know when to back off…

She didn’t say anything. Even when she heard Mixmaster and Scavenger arrive from the bushes, confused and demanding to know what was going on. She just kept her eyes closed, her face buried in Scrapper’s chest, and took in everything. The chaos, their arguing, their voices, their concern… There was a hand in her hair, she wasn’t sure whose it was, but it was comforting. All of it was comforting.

They were all hear. They hadn’t left. They were all still here, still wanting to protect her, and still in love with her… She hadn’t chased them away.

She gave a firm push away from Scrapper, the sudden movement causing all of them to go silent. The five of them stood there, confused and uncertain and worried, all wanting to go to her but afraid to overstep. Afraid to upset again.

She reached up and rubbed her eyes. She hadn’t cried, but she had felt the tears try to leak out. Taking a deep breath, she looked to all of them. The wolf-men she found as children, the wolf-men who were so in love with her, the wolf-men who would do anything for her… Even if they had overwhelmed her and overstepped, so had she.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “For snapping and yelling at you… and making you think I didn’t want you in the village.”

Their eyes widened. “W-Wait, Mis-?!”

She held up a hand. They never liked it when she apologized to them, even if she was in the wrong. They always seemed to think she couldn’t do anything wrong, for whatever reason. “You know what you did to make my angry and you’re sorry for that. I know and I forgive you. But I was wrong to yell too. I’m sorry. So don’t disappear like that again.”

They all just stared at her, completely stunned. Why was she apologizing? They were the ones that overstepped! They just… They loved her so much. And they knew that she had devoted herself to Primus, but they couldn’t help it. They were so in love with her, they just wanted to be with her forever. And if they couldn’t have her as a mate, they could at least protect her and do everything they could to help.

Of course, they had overdone it by a lot. And then when they tried to make it right, they made her worry even more. So much so that she had come to look for them… But they didn’t want to argue with her. She just wanted them back and that was enough for them.

“We’re sorry, Mistress,” Long Haul said softly.

Bonecrusher nodded. “We’ll come back, we promise.”

“A-And we won’t bother you so much,” Scavenger insisted.

“Yeah!” Mixmaster added. “You just let us know and we’ll stop!”

Scrapper sighed, walking up to Prowl to place his hands on her shoulders. He gently rubbed them, relieved to see a gentle look come on her face. She was probably still mad for them disappearing like that, but at least she had forgiven them. They loved her so much, but they clearly still had a lot to learn when it came to reading her better… but for her, they would do it. They would always do anything for her.

* * *

Scrapper ended up taking her back home. Bonecrusher went on patrol and Scrapper would join him shortly after he finished escorting Prowl home. The others were going to head to sleep; apparently, they all had long days.

The walk was quiet, neither really interested in talking. Enough had been said. For now anyway. She knew something would come up from this again. Namely their feelings… After all, they had only acted like that because of how they felt.

Maybe she needed to work on convincing them to look elsewhere for a mate. Explain them to them how there were all kinds of women out there for them. And not just one woman they had to share, but women for all of them. Human or wolf, they couldn’t stay hung up on her forever. Not when returning their affections was impossible. She just couldn’t. She was a nun and she had known them since they were little. It just wouldn’t have been right.

They reached the church garden, Prowl making her way to the backdoor. She turned to face Scrapper, who respectively stood at the bottom of the steps. “I will see you and your brothers tomorrow, then?”

He nodded.

She doubted they would be there for the morning service, but that was fan. Bonecrusher and Mixmaster usually made a lot of noise; they just didn’t know how to sit still, apparently. And she honestly had no idea how they would react tomorrow. The tension was gone, forgiveness had been granted, but they would probably be awkward and not sure what to do with themselves.

After all, she was their “Mistress.” Even though she hated being referred to as that, she knew it was a title that would stick. Because of their undying love for the woman who saved her life, they would always want to serve her.

Which caused her to sigh, which only confused the wolf-man.

“Mistress?” He titled his head. “Is something wrong?”

She shook her head. “It’s just… the five of you love me.”

That didn’t help his confusion. “Yes?”

“… I can’t return those affections, Scrapper,” she said softly. “I am a nun. I have devoted myself to Primus. And you five… you’re all good men. You should all find a person who wants you back. Whether it’s one woman or you each find your own… You shouldn’t waste your time.”

“It’s not a waste,” he insisted, stepping closer to the stairs. Primus, even though she was on the steps, he was still taller than her. “You keep telling us that you can’t or you won’t, but…”

He glanced up at the church. He didn’t understand much about church or religious or Primus, but if He did create the world and everyone in it and decided their fates or whatever, then He must have brought Prowl to them for a reason. Beyond just simply rescuing them from starvation.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t tried. Him especially. They had all tried to find others, when they were younger and less willing to settle… but they couldn’t do it. All the women they met, wolf or human… They just weren’t Prowl. It just couldn’t be anyone else. It had to be her, even if she would never return their affections.

He took her hand. “We love you. We will always love you, Mistress… And, even if it’s impossible, we just want you to look at us as men. Even if it’s only for a day, we just want you to see us… And if you can’t, that’s okay too. We just don’t want to be apart from you.”

She let out a soft breath. She wished she had something to deter him, but she knew it was pointless. Maybe they wouldn’t understand now, but hopefully they would realize later. This just wasn’t going to go how they wanted it to. No matter what they willed… It just couldn’t happen.

“Good night, Scrapper.”

But just as she turned away, the hand still holding hers give a small tug. She was only able to turn back half of the way when she felt something soft press against her cheek. Soft and warm and it left as quickly as it came. But she wasn’t an idiot, her eyes widening as she stared at Scrapper, who did not meet her gaze.

“Good night, Mistress… Sleep well.”

Even if she wanted to scold him, her throat had closed up. All she could do was stand there and watch as Scrapper took off towards the forest. A part of her wanted to get angry and yell after her, but the rest… She honestly didn’t know how to feel. Her heart did stop for a moment, but it was probably to the shock more than anything…

She rubbed her cheek before turning away. She had to forget out that… Maybe tomorrow she would scold him, but for now, she just needed sleep. To sleep and forget about the fact that he kissed her and that her cheeks were red because of it. It didn’t mean anything, she was just caught off guard… And she just needed sleep to wash off the embarrassment.

 


End file.
